Hrkn to .. Share Radio's Film Review

This week James Cameron-Wilson is joined by Chad Kennerk, our occasional American correspondent, to review the opening weekend performance of 'F1 The Movie', which at #1 is now Brad Pitt’s highest-grossing movie, beating the record set in 2013 by his zombie thriller 'World War Z'. Having waxed lyrical last week about Danny Boyle’s new film '28 Years Later', James returns to where the franchise lef...

James Cameron-Wilson waxes lyrical about #1 28 Years Later, Danny Boyle's first film in 6 years. It's 23 years since 28 Days Later and the zombie horror is as fresh as ever, with the likes of Ralph Fienes and Jodie Comer starring in the third in the series, which begins on Lindisfarne. The film has been doing incredibly well wherever it has opened. #3 Elio, however, has had the worst opening ever...

James Cameron-Wilson finds the live-action remake of #1 How To Train Your Dragon a disappointment, lacking much of the original's charm. He points out that the perfectly woven farce The Wedding Banquet is still around, suggesting people catch it while they can. On Netflix, he watched Straw, a state-of-the-nation melodrama from the phenomenally successful Tyler Perry. But while it has some nice mom...

James Cameron-Wilson reports on a thriving box office, well ahead of last year's take. #3 Ballerina has little to do with ballet, coming from the world of John Wick. It's stylish but is relentless, exhausing combat porn. Apple TV+ has Echo Valley with Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney. It's a thriller that gripped James throughout. Also on Apple is the documentary Deaf President Now! about a deaf...

James Cameron-Wilson is impressed that the box office has fallen only 20% with Lilo & Stitch and Mission Impossible #1 & #2. #3 is Karate Kid: Legends with Jackie Chan (the sixth in the series). It is formulaic but moves at a good clip. Independent film The Salt Path is #4, packing out screens where it is showing. It's an unbelieveable but true story with Jason Isaacs & Gillian Anderson and is wor...

James Cameron-Wilson reports box office up 199%. #1 Lilo and Stitch, the latest manifestation in the massive franchise is, despite its popularity with young viewers, a cinematic abomination which James loathed every minute of. He'd been looking forward to #2 Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning, but James found the 8th MI outing lacks the laughter and romance of the first part two years ago. F...

Box office rose 30% despite the good weather, says James Cameron-Wilson. He was surprisingly entertained by #1 Final Destination: Bloodlines, the latest instalment of the long-running series about the inventiveness of the Grim Reaper. Canadian singer Weeknd virtually plays himself in #5 Hurry Up Tomorrow, a self-indulgent vanity project. On Netflix, James found the apparently true-ish story Nonnas...

James Cameron-Wilson reports box office down 50% because of the fine weather. But he delighted in #4 Ocean with David Attenborough in which the 99-year-old reports on mankind's final frontier. Demanding to be seen on the big screen, this amazing film is an existential experience which cannot be bettered. #14 The Wedding Banquet is an updated version of Ang Lee's movie and is an exquisite comedy dr...

James Cameron-Wilson says that #1 Thunderbolts* is keeping the UK box office ticking over. A mildly entertaining Marvel movie starring Florence Pugh and David Harbour, it is very noisy and features dreadful badinage. He was hoping for more from Netflix's Havoc, the biggest feature film ever to be shot wholly in Wales. Starring Tom Hardy, nothing about this John Wick knock-off rings true and, with...

James Cameron-Wilson boosts #2 Sinners again but also enjoyed #4 The Accountant 2, again starring Ben Affleck 8 years on. With a plot like a chess game it is smart, entertaining and often very funny. #22 is The Friend with Naomi Watts & Bill Murray. A handsomely acted look at death, it feels like the adaptation it is and lacks drama. Much better is #28 Julie Keeps Quiet. This rivetting and topical...

James Cameron-Wilson says UK box office is up 83% YoY. He recommends three films in the chart. Ryan Coogler's Sinners at #2 is an outstanding piece of filmmaking which defies caegorisation but brings to mind Tarantino. It's a powerful, sensual and immersive experience that stays with you. #3 The Penguin Lessons isn't the feelgood family film you might expect but a wise, charming and funny politica...

James Cameron-Wilson says that box iffice is down 52% although A Minecraft Movie has powered ahead to a £31m take. #2 The Amateur has Rami Malek as a desk-bound CIA guy who wants to get trained up for revenge. But it's ludicrous and underlit and very disappointing. #6 the unheralded Drop is a thriller with Meghann Fahy on a date that goes badly wrong. Think of Speed in a restaurant. James was comp...

This week James Cameron-Wilson is joined by Chad Kennerk, our occasional American correspondent fresh from his trip to CinemaCon in Vegas. James is thrilled to see that the UK box-office has leaped a phenomenal 168.7% from the previous weekend, thanks to the video game adaptation 'A Minecraft Movie' with Jason Momoa and Jack Black. At #4 is 'Death of a Unicorn', a farcical horror comic that is ine...

James Cameron-Wilson reports that the box office is down 14%. #2 is A Working Man, a violent, noisy and hugely unrealistic shoot-em-up with Jason Statham scything through Russian baddies as he tries to rescue his boss's daughter. It's like a poor knockoff of Taken. James hugely recommended Novocaine at #5 with Jack Quaid a man incapable of feeling pain. Although occasionally violent there are a lo...

With box office + 63%, James Cameron-Wilson says #1 Snow White is neither as bad nor good as some would have it. Rachel Zegler lights up the screen but the CGI dwarves make it feel like an animated remake. It's not a new classic. #7 The Alto Knights has Robert de Niro playing 2 rival gangsters at once, a truly bad idea. It's misjudged and incredibly boring. James recommends documentary A Thinking...

James Cameron-Wilson says that box office is down another 24% this week. Steven Soderbeg's spy thriller Black Bag is #3. With the likes of Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett it looks good but is dry, unbelieveable and contrived. He was far keener on #7 Last Breath, a true-life feature based on an earlier documentary about a deep sea rescue. Starring Woody Harrelson it feels totally authentic an...

James Cameron-Wilson says that #1 Mickey 17, from Parasite's Bong Joon Ho, is a sci-fi film about replicated human beings in the vein of Terry Gilliam which seems terribly familiar. He found the lead irritating and thought it entirely humourless. #3 Marching Powder proved to James's surprise that he IS shockable after all. Another Nick Love-Danny Dyer collaboration about a coke addict who loves vi...

James Cameron-Wilson laments box office falling 42%, saying it is unlikely to pick up until May when the new Mission Impossible film is released. #5 is The Last Showgirl in which Pamela Anderson plays an exotic dancer feeling her age after 30 years stripping in Las Vegas. Despite good performances from her and Jamie Lee-Curtis, James found the appalling camerwork made it hard to engage. He thought...

James Cameron-Wilson says box office, though down 39%, is still up 78% year-on-year thanks to Bridget Jones. #4 is The Monkey, a spectacularly grisly horror film which, neither funny nor scary, is just depressing and illogical. I Am Still Here is #6, Walter Salles's much-garlanded docudrama about Brazil's dictatorship in the 1970s. James loved the Blu-Ray box set "Douglas Sirk 1934-5" with the dir...

James Cameron-Wilson celebrates a 162% box office jump with Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy the new #1. Its £12.3m take was the biggest ever for a romcom. James, although recognising he's not the target audience, was a little less enthusiastic, as was Simon Rose, though James found it the best of the four films. #2 is Captain America: Brave New World, the 35th Marvel film. A thriller that gets in...

James Cameron-Wilson reports on box office +13%. Avoiding animated #1 Dog Man, he found #5, September 5, a true-life drama about TV's coverage of the Munich Olympics kidnapping of Israeli athletes totally engrossing, if uncomfortably timely. At #6 is The Brutalist. Despite admiring its many exceptional attributes, including the acting, he found the characters in this 215-minute labour of love tiri...

James Cameron-Wilson says that UK box office is down for the fifth week in a row. #3 is Companion which James says is best enjoyed knowing little about it. It has laughs, thrills and plenty of surprises but is essentially a black comedy. Steven Soderbergh's horror Presence has slipped to #20 but James found it a one-trick pony with little flesh on its bones, short though it is. He suggests everyon...

James Cameron-Wilson says that box office is down 21%, although A Complete Unknown remains #1. The Mel Gibson thriller Flight Risk is #4 with Michelle Dockery and Mark Wahlberg excellent in a well-produced, tight piece of hokum which actually drew a round of applause in the cinema. On Netflix, James found Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger with Rory Kinnear, about the iniquity of payday lenders, supe...

James Cameron-Wilson reports on box office -13% but still up on 2024, with Wicked becoming last year's most successful film with £59.6m. The musical biopic of Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, with Timothy Chalomet and Edward Norton is the new #1. Despite great performances, with little narrative momentum, it might be mainly for fans. The tedious and unbelievable Wolf Man limps in at #7. James found...

James Cameron-Wilson says that yet again 6 films took £1m at the box office, with Mufasa replacing Nosferatu as #1. Racy drama Babygirl is #5, with Nicole Kidman amazing as a businesswoman whose perfect life is threatened by an affair. James found it almost too much, so real and voyeuristic did it feel. Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain at #6 has him and Kieran Culkin mismatched cousins tracing their...